Who We Are
A local company with deep roots
Casco Viejo Walking Tours was founded by locals who grew up in and around Panama City's historic quarter. What started as informal walks for friends and family grew into one of the neighbourhood's most trusted tour operations, now welcoming guests from over 40 countries every year.
We are not a large agency. We are a small, independent company — and that matters. Every tour is led by a permanent guide, not a freelancer hired for the day. Our guides know the neighbourhood the way only people who have lived it can, and that depth of knowledge is what makes our tours different.
Casco Viejo is our home. We care about it deeply — its restoration, its communities, and the stories it holds. Our tours are our way of sharing that care with the world.
Our Values
What drives us
Authentic History
We tell the real stories — the complicated, fascinating, human history of Casco Viejo. No sanitised scripts.
Community First
We work with local vendors, support neighbourhood businesses, and give back to the communities that make Casco Viejo special.
Small Groups
We keep our groups small — always. Better for you, better for the neighbourhood, better for the stories.
The Team
Meet your guides
Born and raised in Panama City, Carlos has been guiding tours in Casco Viejo for over a decade. He holds a degree in Latin American History from the University of Panama and speaks English, Spanish and French.
Valentina grew up in the neighbourhood and has spent years documenting its culinary traditions. She leads our Food Tasting and Rum Tours and is the reason our food stops are the real thing, not tourist traps.
The Neighbourhood
Why Casco Viejo
Casco Viejo — also known as Casco Antiguo or San Felipe — is the oldest part of Panama City. Founded in 1673 on a rocky peninsula after the original city was destroyed by the pirate Henry Morgan, it was designed to be defensible, beautiful, and enduring. Over three centuries, it has been all three.
The neighbourhood was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, recognising its extraordinary concentration of colonial Spanish, French Baroque, and Art Nouveau architecture. Today it is one of the most vibrant and rapidly evolving historic districts in Latin America — a place where crumbling ruins stand beside award-winning restaurants, where history and the present collide on every block.
We believe the best way to understand Casco Viejo is on foot, at a human pace, with someone who knows its secrets. That is what we offer.